Container traffic in the port of Antwerp surged 16.9 percent in the first nine months of 2010 from a year ago to move within sight of the pre-crisis record set in 2008.
The Belgian port handled 6.3 million 20-foot equivalent units from January through September compared with an all time high of the 6.65 million TEUs in same period in 2008 before global container shipping entered its deepest slump.
Total cargo volume also returned to pre-crisis levels after growing 13.2 percent to 132.2 million metric tons from almost 117 million metric tons in the year-earlier period.
The port authority said it expects to close the year with a total volume of 175 million metric tons if the current trend continues.
Conventional and breakbulk cargo continued to lag containers, increasing 6.3 percent to 8.4 million metric tons in the first nine months of the year. Steel products were up 8.5 percent at 4.8 million metric tons, and fruit shipments grew 4 percent to 980,912 metric tons, but wood cellulose and paper shrunk 10.2 percent to 832,242 metric tons.
The port authority pledged "undiminished" efforts to address the "limping" performance of the breakbulk and conventional sector by attracting additional cargoes.
Antwerp handled just under 13 million metric tons of breakbulk and conventional cargo in the first nine months of 2008, a 15.3 percent year-on-year drop that signaled the start of the decline in this traffic.
Roll-on, roll-off shipments this year rose 14.9 percent to 2.7 million metric tons and car traffic soared 22.8 percent with 670,990 units loaded or unloaded in the first nine months of the year.
Bulk freight grew 4.8 percent to 44 million metric tons.
The Belgian port handled 6.3 million 20-foot equivalent units from January through September compared with an all time high of the 6.65 million TEUs in same period in 2008 before global container shipping entered its deepest slump.
Total cargo volume also returned to pre-crisis levels after growing 13.2 percent to 132.2 million metric tons from almost 117 million metric tons in the year-earlier period.
The port authority said it expects to close the year with a total volume of 175 million metric tons if the current trend continues.
Conventional and breakbulk cargo continued to lag containers, increasing 6.3 percent to 8.4 million metric tons in the first nine months of the year. Steel products were up 8.5 percent at 4.8 million metric tons, and fruit shipments grew 4 percent to 980,912 metric tons, but wood cellulose and paper shrunk 10.2 percent to 832,242 metric tons.
The port authority pledged "undiminished" efforts to address the "limping" performance of the breakbulk and conventional sector by attracting additional cargoes.
Antwerp handled just under 13 million metric tons of breakbulk and conventional cargo in the first nine months of 2008, a 15.3 percent year-on-year drop that signaled the start of the decline in this traffic.
Roll-on, roll-off shipments this year rose 14.9 percent to 2.7 million metric tons and car traffic soared 22.8 percent with 670,990 units loaded or unloaded in the first nine months of the year.
Bulk freight grew 4.8 percent to 44 million metric tons.